Week of 28 September 2020
ARMENIA and AZERBAIJAN: Fighting has erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region, largely Christian and ethnically Armenian, has been internationally recognised as part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan since 1994, but is de facto autonomous and closely allied with Armenia. The conflict could potentially escalate due to Turkey’s alleged intervention on the Azerbaijani side on Monday, which has reportedly attracted Russian attention.
GREECE: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited Greece in an attempt to ease the tensions between Greece and Turkey that have marked the past few months. Relations between the two countries have been historically fraught and reached a new low point over the summer, when the Turkish research vessel Oruç Reis undertook energy resource explorations in a maritime area which Greece claims as its own. Both Greece and Turkey are NATO members.
SOUTH SUDAN: The Government of South Sudan began rolling out an e-government programme on Tuesday, making services such as passport and visa applications accessible online. South Sudanese officials claim that the move will enhance transparency and help fight corruption while also delivering public services in a contactless, Covid-secure way. This project marks a new step in the process of normalisation in the fledgling state of South Sudan, which obtained independence from Sudan in 2011 but soon fell into a bloody civil war until a deal was struck last February.
UNITED STATES: Several political commentators have called Tuesday’s first U.S. presidential debate between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden ‘the worst presidential debate ever’. Trump interrupted Biden virtually every time he spoke and ‘demonstrated a willingness to lie, exaggerate and mislead’ according to The New York Times fact-checkers, prompting Biden to call him ‘the worst president America has ever had’. Trump is trailing Biden by about 7 points in the nationwide polling average, with the election scheduled for 3 November. The next debate (8 October) will see Vice President Pence facing Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris.
URUGUAY: The Economist has reported on the Uruguayan government’s recent attempts to make it easier for foreigners to take up residence in the country. The value of property a prospective citizen must buy has decreased from $1.7m to $380,000, and the minimum investment for business owners has been reduced from $5.5m to $1.7m. The move attempts to address the chronic demographic crisis of Uruguay, whose ageing population has stagnated for decades. The reform has proved particularly popular among Argentine citizens, who according to the Economist consider it a way to escape their country’s political instability and high taxation.
